Employers: Your new hire's first anniversary

Congratulations!

Your new recruit has lasted the course, and you're thinking about the annual appraisal and what matters need to be discussed – and what questions may be asked of you. This will need some serious advance preparation, especially if there are any negative issues to deal with, or you are planning a change of role for the employee.

We must also keep in mind that your new member has worked hard just to be able to last out the year. They have got to know, and become co-workers with, people who were strangers, found their way around the workplace, learnt not only what their job is but also the company way of doing things, and may also have undergone training.

So here, in no particular order, are some thoughts that, we hope, are helpful in creating the right parameters for the first annual review. And, as you will see, many of these are relevant throughout any period of employment, simply because they represent good, sensible, commercial practice:

Firstly, have a look at our blog Love your Staff, dated 18.8.2010. The suggestions made in that are basic common sense, but they work and demonstrate that the company actually cares about its workers and wants them to stay.

Secondly, about two weeks before the review you should arrange for the 'reviewee' to have a copy of the assessment agenda, both to prepare them for what is to come and also for them to flag any points that may be particularly important to them. You can ask to see a copy of their notes, say, a week before the meeting, and it can be a salutary lesson, for both sides, to each to see the employee through the other's eyes. This is an opportunity for both sides to negotiate an agreement about the qualities and shortcomings of the employee, and how the shortcomings (if any!) can be overcome. You also get the chance not only to be proactive, but to be seen to be proactive in dealing with these issues.

It is important that, from the start of the review, the employee is told that he or she is free to raise any issues, whether good or bad, and that any concerns will be treated seriously. (Serious issues or complaints should, of course, be dealt with in a separate meeting). In particular, there should be no fear of any reprisal as a result of what is said. The idea is to create an environment, for an hour or so, during which candour and honesty are encouraged. Only then are you likely to find out what the employee really thinks and feels, and the employee will leave the interview feeling that they, and their views, are actually wanted and respected. Never forget that the new recruit that you hire can, in some circumstances, rise to senior management, and how you treat the employee may well shape how that future employer treats their staff.

You are the one to open, and control the conduct of, the review meeting. By doing this, you will retain control of the agenda you have in mind and so can ensure that you say everything that you need to say, be it good or bad. The reviewee should never be allowed to assume control of any part of the discussion, because to do so will encourage them to feel that they have more power than, in reality, they do, and you will find it difficult to turn the conversation back to your agenda.

Despite the above, you should at all times, even (especially?) if the discussion turns awkward, treat your reviewee with respect and with sensitivity. The fact that you employed them in the first place is enough in itself for them to be treated with respect, never mind any other qualities or achievements they may have displayed. And, for all you know, during the last year they may have been bullied, or suffered a bereavement, or be having any number of other personal issues. You will never know unless you give them the opportunity to open up to you, and you will then never have a chance to help them return to being a 100% member of the team.

When it comes to pay and conditions, you must be scrupulously fair not only with the person you are reviewing but also with the whole of the group or section of people with whom they are working. Nothing is likely to sow the seeds of discontent more than to know that you are being paid less than someone else directly comparable with you for exactly the same work. So it makes sense to tailor the pay award, assuming the reviewee is satisfactory, to what you can justify bearing in mind that the employee will have a fair picture as to how successful their work has been, and that of his or her section of the operation. That award must also, of course, reflect commercial reality, especially if there is a shortage of a particular skillset, but the actual pay that is paid can be adjusted through performance adjustments which have the advantage that, unlike pay, they can (and should) go up and down at short notice if they are assessed at frequent intervals.

In times of shortages of skilled workers, the workers themselves will have a very clear idea of their scarcity, and value to their employer. This can lead to inflated claims about headhunting approaches, to encourage you to pay more than, perhaps, you want to. Before the review takes place, it can make good sense to have a word with your recruitment company regarding current pay levels. The recruiters will have much more experience than you of pay levels around the country and can help protect you from being exploited.

Communication. There are two aspects to consider here:

• Your communications with the employee should be clear, concise and as unambiguous as possible. By cutting out the 'waffle', you will help to shorten the review (time is money!), and you will give the employee fewer opportunities to misunderstand or misconstrue what you are are saying. You will also create fewer opportunities for unwanted side-tracking and, by keeping a tighter rein on the words that you use, you will reduce the chance of saying, or revealing, something that you didn't intend.
  
  
• The review is a good opportunity for you to stress to the employee that it is very important to keep the lines of communication open, both ways. It is only by doing this that any criticisms or other issues can be dealt with, before they start to fester, and new ideas or approaches can only be considered if there is a friendly and non-critical way in which these can be communicated up the line.

You may be considering a promotion for your reviewee, or a move to a different position. This will introduce a new element to the discussion, as you may need to 'sell' the benefits of the change to the employee. It may help to look at what really motivates your employee: things such as pay, the benefits package, regular trips home (if appropriate) and so on are nice but they are not necessarily good motivators, as so many workers assume that they will have these benefits anyway, almost as if they were an integral part of the pay package. However, personal satisfaction is, generally, a really good motivator and has the considerable advantage that it can be offered at little if any financial cost to the company.

Well, we touched upon this in February's blog “What do your staff want, exactly?”. If you can find a way to give someone 'ownership' of an aspect of their work – in other words, full freedom and control (within reason) as to how they do a task, or in what order they do their tasks, or are able to come up with creative solutions to problems, etc – they will most likely rise to the challenge because they have been trusted and respected enough to be able to work in the way that they want to, and with the support of their senior staff. In a sense, you will be appealing to the basic qualities of selfishness and self-aggrandisement that are present in all of us, but in a way that benefits both the company and the individual.

Another aid to assessing the employee is the 'reverse role-play' technique. Sometimes used in the promotion board setting, it can also be used, one to one, in the appraisal setting just to help you get a better idea of how the employee thinks on their feet, how creative they can be and how well they cope with reacting spontaneously. 

Most importantly, by the end of the meeting both you and the employee should feel better, and better-informed, and there should be an acceptance of the main points that have been discussed, and how outstanding matters are to be dealt with.

As always, it is vital to record all salient matters in writing for your records (you never know if these are going to be looked at by a court at some point in the future), and for preference a copy should be handed to the reviewee, and a further copy to be signed and dated by him/her and retained as part of the staff records. No one can then argue with what was discussed or agreed on the day.

Of course, we cannot pretend that this is a comprehensive list of the do's and don't's in a review setting, but we hope you have found this interesting. As always, we at Skye Recruitment are always happy to help with any queries or problems you may have.